Weather observed from the top of Australia

15 AUGUST 2005

Museum senior curator Matthew Higgins will tell the intriguing
story of a group of men who lived on the top of Australia around
the turn of the last century - on Wednesday at the National Museum
in Canberra.

For five years, from 1897 to 1902, Clement Wragge and his team
lived at a weather station on the top of Mt Kosciuszko, first in a
tent and then in a small timber hut.

'Kosciuszko's summit was then one of the most isolated places in
Australia. The men lived there summer and, incredibly, winter,'
said Mr Higgins.

After the first winter, the weather men had to build an enclosed
stairway with rooftop hatch to provide access to the hut after
heavy snowfalls.

'The observers faithfully carried out regular instrument
readings, even during midnight blizzards. In their time off, the
mostly young men of the station enjoyed the wonderful natural
phenomena of Australia's highest point, and were pioneer skiers on
the top of Australia.'

The free lecture, Life at the Top: Wragge's Kosciuszko
Weather Observatory, will be held in the Friends Lounge at the
National Museum, from 6 to 7pm on Wednesday, 17 August.

Mr Higgins' talk will be illustrated with slides of the
observatory and the people who made it a fascinating chapter in
Australia's mountain history.

Matthew Higgins, a bushwalker and skier, has been researching,
writing and talking about the high country's history for nearly 20
years. He works on the Museum's Tangled Destinies gallery,
which explores how the Australian environment has shaped life and
agriculture.